Disaster Zone & Loco Chicken & Rice

Wow! What a weekend. Do you remember me telling you that I was making my Father in Law's birthday cake. Well, I did make it. I spent two days on it and it WAS great. Was being the key word here. Before I get into that part of the story though, I will tell you what I did to this great cake. I made it in three tiers, and two flavors (because it had to feed about 75 people) and I decorated it like a mountain side complete with the waterfall, rocks, cattails, 3D trees,a rustic wood plank sign annnnnddd 2 bucks and a fawn. Whew! A lot of stuff on the cake. Why am I describing this to you? Because I was not able to get a picture of it before this happened......

GASP!!!! Okay...are you back in your seat yet? What had happened was.....my dear, sweet, loving, precious husband was driving the SUV and a light turns yellow. The hesitation of him wanting to go or stop resulted in a heavy pressing of the brake pedal to actually stop the vehicle and PLOP! The cake went flying. Our little princess began to cry and tell me the cake was broken. We pull over and get out of the car to assess the true damage and well.....let's just say the rest is history. The only thing that managed to survive was the sign and trees. This being because I was holding them on our long hour trip to the party.

Through my tears and frustration we made it to the party (I did not want to be there at this point) and my dear, sweet, precious, loving husband wisked the cake immediately to the kitchen where I performed the miraculous cake surgery.( I cut it into serving size pieces and gave the people what they wanted) DELICIOUS CAKE!!!!

Mocha Chocolate cake, and traditional birthday cake flavor with a bavarian filling and buttercream frosting.

The party was really nice. My father-in-law was celebrating his 70th birthday and it was his first ever birthday party. My mother-in-law did a great job with the food. She served spaghetti with salad and garlic bread, chicken salad sandwiches (because my father-in-law wanted them ) and the disaster that I brought in the door.

Oh well....at least nothing went to waste and he enjoyed all the attention too.

I did manage to make a pretty yummy and healthy dish for dinner last night too. My mexican creation of Loco Chicken and Rice.

The recipe follows for those who would like to try it.

Loco Chicken and Rice

6  boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 pkt. McCormicks Chicken Taco Seasoning

1/2 C. MCT Oil

1 large red bell pepper

1 large yellow bell pepper

1 large yellow onion

1 1/2 C. Whole Graing Rice

4 C. Chicken Broth

1 jar Pace Picante Sauce

Veggie Cheese

Light Sour Cream

Scallions

Directions:

Cut up chicken breasts into strips and place in a large bowl. Drizzle 1/4 cup of MCT Oil over it and add the chicken taco seasoning. Toss to coat and marinate for 30 minutes or overnight.

Cut up the onion and bellpeppers into thin strips. Heat a large skillet on medium heat and add 1/4 cup of MCT oil. Sautee the onions and peppers until semi tender. Transfer to a plate and set aside.

Increase heat to medium/high heat and add chicken strips. Cook until browned on both sides and no longer pink inside.

Add the peppers and onions back to the chicken and lower heat to  simmer.

Cover and simmer for 5-10 minutes to deglaze the pan.

In a large saucepan pour in the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add rice, stir and cover. Reduce heat to low and cook aobut 30 minutes or until rice is tender and broth has evaported.

Add the jar of picante sauce and stir.

Plate up the dinner by scooping out the rice onto the plate and topping with the loco chicken and peppers.

Add a dollop of sour cream, cheese and scallions if desired.

ENJOY!!!

Pace Picante Chicken Tortilla Super Bowl Soup

Okay Okay...I know this isn't a cookie post but it is a good one so just hang in there with me til the end and you will love what you see.

I know that I am not a chef, I don't even claim to be an amazing cook but I can come up with some winner recipes from time to time that my family loves. So as a part of the Tastemaker program at Foodbuzz I received two jars of Pace Picante Sauce to try out and come up with a great recipe. It took me a little bit to decide what to try and make with it but I finally did it!

I took some basic ingredients that I almost always have on hand and combined them to make a very yummy (if I do say so myself) soup. In the picture are some of the ingredients that I used.

Here is my recipe. I hope you like it!

Pace Picante Chicken Tortilla Super Bowl Soup

1 lb. boneless chicken breast

1 pkg. mild taco seasoning (I used McCormick)

1 4 oz. can green chili's

1 jar Pace Picante Sauce (I used Medium)

1 tsp. chicken flavor Better Than Bouillon

1/2 tsp. minced garlic

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp lemon pepper

1 can cream of chicken soup (low sodium)

2 fresh tomatoes diced

In a large pot, fill it half way with water and add the taco seasoning pack. Rinse chicken and add to the water. Boil for about 20 minutes or until done.

Remove chicken from the pot and set aside. Using the broth that has been made by cooking your chicken, add the remaining ingredients and stir well. You made need to whisk the cream of chicken soup in to prevent the lumps. Shred the chicken and add this back to the pot. Let this simmer for 20-30 minutes.

You can garnish with cheese, green onions, sour cream, and of course tortilla chips.

Note: I made my own tortilla strips with regular flour tortillas. I cut them in strips and sprayed both sides with cooking oil. Sprinkle with salt and bake for about minutes at 350 degrees.

This really is a simple soup to make and has a lot of flavor. For those of us who are trying to watch our figures, it is pretty darn healthy too.

Enjoy!